“Was it because of Burning Sun?” The late Goo Hara’s cellphone theft case re-examined

This revelation has renewed attention on the theft that occurred at her home after her death.

The theft, which involved Goo Hara‘s cellphone among other items, took place on January 14th, 2020 at 12:15 AM. An unidentified man climbed over a wall and stole a personal safe, which was captured on CCTV. This incident happened 50 days after Goo Hara passed away in November 2019.

The man seen in the CCTV footage was around 175cm tall and wore glasses. He attempted to enter the house using a password Goo Hara had set while she was alive. When the password didn’t work, he broke in through the second-floor balcony and stole only the personal safe that Goo Hara used. Goo Hara’s brother, Goo Ho-in, formally reported the theft to the police.

Goo Hara’s acquaintances speculated that the theft might have been orchestrated by someone familiar with her, or possibly by a third party acting on such a person’s behalf. This suspicion arose because the thief headed straight to the room where the safe was kept, bypassing other valuable items. They suggested that the thief might have been familiar with the house layout, which an outsider would unlikely know.

Moreover, the timing of the theft, shortly after Goo Ho-in had left the house following Goo Hara’s 49th day since death, led to suspicions that the thief had been waiting for the house to be empty. There were also concerns that the theft might not have been a simple robbery but rather targeted for specific items.

The personal safe contained not only expensive jewelry but also important documents, contracts related to Goo Hara’s investments and old cellphone. Given the potential personal information on the phone, there were theories that the theft aimed to acquire this data. Goo Hara’s family’s lawyer, No Jong-eon, suggested that there might have been something more crucial than just jewelry in the safe.

Despite over 9 months of investigation, the police were unable to identify the man in the CCTV footage, and the case remains unsolved. Those close to Goo Hara, including her family and acquaintances, did not recognize the suspect from the CCTV images.

Profiler Bae Sang-hoon analyzed the case on MBC, suggesting that the suspect’s clothing and the method of entry indicated he was not a professional thief. He theorized that the suspect likely did not have a physically demanding job, as his clothing included reflective elements, which a professional would avoid. He also noted that the suspect’s cautious behavior and unfamiliarity with the house layout suggested he might have been acting under someone else’s direction.

Focusing on the stolen cellphone, profiler Bae pointed out that even private forensic services can now extract data from phones. He speculated that someone who knew the significance of Goo Hara’s private phone might have orchestrated the theft, aiming to retrieve sensitive information contained within it.